On March 12, 2018, at 2201 hours, the Merced Communication Center (MCC) received a call of a traffic collision on Shaffer Road south of Mercedes Avenue. Officers from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Merced Area Office responded to the scene and investigated the collision. The time this collision occurred is still under investigation.
During the course of the investigation, it was determined a 20 year old unrestrained male was driving a 1997 Honda southbound on Shaffer Road, south of Mercedes Avenue, at an unknown speed. For an unknown reason the vehicle veered off of the roadway where it entered the west grass shoulder and continued into a dirt field where it overturned multiple times. The Honda came to rest on its roof, while on top of an irrigation pond berm. There were no witnesses to this collision. Initially upon emergency personnel arrival the Honda was determined to be unoccupied.
A check of the area and pond revealed a solo male subject submerged in the pond. The male was removed from the water and paramedics performed CPR in an attempt to revive the subject. The male was pronounced deceased on the scene. The driver seatbelt was determined to have not been worn by the driver at the time of this collision, and he was subsequently ejected from the Honda.
This collision is still under investigation. It is unknown at this time if drugs and/or alcohol were a factor.